A Bentley car that rammed into two vehicles and injured four people, including a six-year-old boy near Mekhri Circle on Sunday, was allegedly being driven by Mohammed Nalapad Haris, the son of Shantinagar Congress MLA N.A. Haris.
Soon after the accident, the driver abandoned the car, and another person surrendered to the police. However, the Bengaluru Traffic Police said on Tuesday that they had strong evidence to show that it was Nalapad who was behind the wheel. The MLA’s son is currently out on bail after he reportedly beat up a patron at a restaurant in 2018.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said their initial investigations have confirmed the identity of the driver. “However, some other person came and surrendered to the police claiming that he was the one who rammed into vehicles. We will soon issue a notice to Mohammed Nalapad to appear before us for further investigations,” said Mr. Gowda.
Incidentally, Nalapad’s name is not mentioned in the FIR, which the police filed on Sunday, against an unnamed male driver of the Bentley. The accused has been booked for rash and negligent driving, endangering the life of others and also under sections of the of Motor Vehicles Act.
The incident occurred on Sunday around 2.30 p.m. when the speeding luxury car, coming towards P.G. Halli from Hebbal, rammed into a motorcycle and then hit the rear of an autorickshaw under the Mekhri Circle underpass, near the CTO Junction on Ballari Road.
Four people were injured: the autorickshaw driver Suhel, 31, and two passengers, Sabiha, 28, and her six-year-old son, as well as the motorcycle driver. “The motorcycle rider, suffered a fracture on his left leg and sustained other minor injuries,” a police official said.
The traffic police have seized the car. The injured were taken to a private hospital for treatment.
In February 2018, Nalapad and his friends allegedly attacked a patron at a well-known restaurant in the Central Business District. As many as 11 charges, under the Indian Penal Code, including sections related to attempt to murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt with deadly weapon or means, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, were invoked against him in the charge sheet filed by the Central Crime Branch.
